Volunteers sought to place flags on veterans' graves

The planting of the flags was made possible after Paul Monti advocated for a change in cemetery policies that didn’t allow flag placement at the Massachusetts National Veterans Cemetery in Bourne, where Jared Monti is buried.

RAYNHAM – Operation Flags for Vets, an effort organized by the father of a Medal of Honor recipient from Raynham, is calling for volunteers to pitch in next Saturday.

For the fourth straight year, Operation Flags for Vets will place flags at each of the 57,000 graves at the Massachusetts National Veterans Cemetery in Bourne for Memorial Day.

The volunteer project was initiated by Paul Monti, father of Jared Monti, a soldier who died in Afghanistan in June 2006 and was later posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery in trying to save the life of a wounded comrade.

“We are looking for volunteers to help with this worthy and solemn endeavor,” Operation Flags for Vets said in a message. “People of all ages are welcomed to help in the placement of the 57,000 flags on the final resting place of our beloved veterans.”

Before the flag placement begins on May 24, a short ceremony will be held at the flagpole at the end of the cemetery’s Avenue of Flags at 10 a.m.

Volunteers are asked to bring a long-shanked screwdriver with them to aid in making starter holes for the flags.

Volunteers are also needed for flag removal, which will take place on June 1 at 10 a.m.

The planting of the flags was made possible after Paul Monti advocated for a change in cemetery policies that didn’t allow flag placement at the Massachusetts National Veterans Cemetery in Bourne, where Jared Monti is buried.

Operation Flags for Vets is organized as part of the SFC Jared C. Monti Charitable Foundation, which provides a scholarship.